During recent renovations at a shop in Sevenoaks (Kent, UK) close to 500 glass plate negatives were discovered holed up in an old fireplace. The shop was once one of the photographic studios of the Essenhigh-Corke family. The collection has been bought by The Centre for Kentish Studies (Kent archives) and is currently being digitized for an exhibition later this summer.

Hello,
My name is Jonathan Barker, I work at the Kent archives and I'm the lucky person who's scanning this collection. As Kent is the county closest to France it hosted many staging camps. We are assuming there was one near Sevenoaks, as so far I've identified close to fifty different regiments, including Canadian, New Zealand and Australian troops. Whilst many of the badges were fairly easy to identify, some are a bit vague, so I'm asking for your help.

Over the coming weeks I'll be posting lots of the photographs for you to confirm my deductions or ridicule my amateurish assumptions! The names given with each image were written on the glass plate itself, presumably the person in the photograph, but not necessarily. Firstly the Canadians.


The name given with this plate is Selford.

Whoops, I've managed to get the images the wrong way around. That was the detail of his collar badge, here is the whole plate for Selford on the right.

The name with this plate on the left is Bates.

This is a detail of the sergeant's cap badge.

I think this could be Royal Highlanders of Canada, can anyone confirm this? The name on the plate is Evan Young.

Very nice clear photos , look forward to seeing some of the Aussie stuff. "MO"

Here is a close-up of the shoulder title. Any help you can give me with these and the many more that are going to follow will be greatly appreciated,

Jon.

First shoulder badge (SELFORD) possibly CEF 11th Mounted Rifles.
See link.

http://www.militarybadges.info/pages/canada/cef13.htm


Al.

Australians eh? OK, I've found three of them. The first two are named Mansfield.

A close-up of Mansfield's collar badge.

I Think your right with the Royal Highlanders of Canada,

Look forward to seeing more

Brett

The second has the name Blinkerhouse written on it.

A close up of the Blinkerhouse badge.

Barke 02,

Are you going to put all these in a Database? you may have pictures of men people are looking for. Would be great if you could build some sort of data base / site so they were all together and people could search for names etc. Im sure someone on this forum could help if you needed it.

Great job your doing well done.


Regards
Brett


Any named Giblin or Puddle or Vaines ?

fingers crossed !

This one shows two guys, but I haven't included a close-up as it's not clear enough. The plate carries the name Young.

Hm, I don't think that is the name of the soldier. A search of the Australian WWI nominal roll did not find that name. Also, a search of the UK 1901 census did not return any hits.

Doug

Jonathan

the Australian photos you have published so far show the Australian Imperial Force collar badge - as far as I know this was the standard collar badge for all Australian soldiers under the AIF umbrella

Chris

I would agree with that Chris.

It was the cloth "Colour patch" (introduced c 1915) that was used to denote the specific unit. Unfortunately of limited value in a black and white photo.

Doug

Jon:

Think this may be your Evan Young, although he is registered as Standford Evan Young . He was born in Sevenoaks, Kent on his attestation papers. Here is the link.

Young

There is also an Evan Young, but think Standford is your man!

Evan Young

Hi Al, thanks for your reply. That's the Babin book on Canadian badges isn't it? I trawled through that but nearly went maple leaf crazy! I couldn't find a really good match, but then they are drawings. What do other people think?
Hi Brett, I haven't come across any named Giblin, Puddle or Vaines yet. If you could give me their regiments I could keep a look out. A database is a really good idea, I don't know if there are any plans yet. The first step is to get them digitized and display parts of the collection in an exhibtion at Sevenoaks library in August. After that I'm hoping a cd will be produced, or possibly to make them avaliable via the archives website. I'll keep you informed, but certainly as a government body the archives are keen to enlist the help of volunteers from the public.
Better get back to my chores, I'll post some more tonight.
Jon.

Jon : I can not find any Selford on the Canadian site. Could it be Telford? There are 57 Telford's which is a name I know in the Ottawa Valley.

Great photos, look forward to seeing more. Would you happen to have any Robbins?


Doris

There is also a book "Military Badges of the British Empire 1914-18" by Reginald H.W. Cox that you might find useful.

Covers the Colonial forces as well as the Brits.

Doug

What a fantastic find and what great photos!!

Lucky you being able to research all this AND get paid for it too!!

Sorry I can't help (not knowledgeable enough unfortunately) but I'm sure you'll get plenty of help from everyone else here.

Thanks for posting them and looking forward to seeing more.

Kim

What a thrilling discovery, I look forward to seeing the exhibition in due course

Unfortunately I think I'll have to wait for the CD - or the online exhibition.

Doug

Click to view attachment

Jonathon,

Belay my last. I believe Selford/Telford to be CEF Dental Corps Overseas.

Al.

Excellent pictures. A great find.

Why not put "Canadian and Autralian interest" as a sub-title to the thread to get our Imperial Pals attenton?

Hello all.
Doug, you're right, I misread the name. Sorry about that. It should be Blinkhouse, not Blinkerhouse.
Doris WOW! That's amazing. The fact that this chap's from Sevenoaks will make him the star at the exhibition. Thankyou very much.
Al, a brilliant bit of detective work, well done. I think your spot on this time. I'm just going to resize some more images in Photoshop, then I'll post then post 'em up.
Jon.

I'm going to start putting numbers next to the names, but these are scanning numbers for reference only and have nothing to do with the subject. This is one I've struggled on. At first I thought (hoped!) it was East Kent Mounted Rifles, but now am leaning towards Army Remount Service. What do you think? ec1219 name is Mansfield.

The wings clearly have RAF on this one, but the cap badge looks unusual. ec1183 the name is Windsor.

Another RAF one, does this mean the photo can be dated to 1918? ec1042 name is Marsh.

Tomorrow I'll list all 50-odd regiments that I've identified so far, and the number of occurrences for each one (so for the Middlesex Regiment I've found 31, with names like Friendentag and Fusch).
Jon.
Finally tonight one for the New Zealanders. Here we have the New Zealand Rifle Brigade 'The Dinks'. ec1008 the name is Williams.

And without his lemon squeezer.

do you have a WH Evans Middlesex or W R AYRES Middlesex ?

ec1219 IS the Army Remount Service without doubt. Brilliant pictures keep them coming. Regards Ralph.

Jonathon,
Ref. post 27. ec1183 Windsor.

Capbadge is Royal Naval Air Service.

Click to view attachment

Hi Jon,

No Blinkhouse either.

There are these three possibilities:

258, Pte, Blinkhorn Benjamin, 27th Battalion,
2331A, Pte, Blinkhorn, Cecil Bertie, 1st Pioneers
1873, Pte, Blinkhorne, Cecil James, 1st M.G. BN

Doug

If it is Cecil James Blinkhorne what you may have there is a photograph of Cecil with his bride Florance Ashby.

Florance and Cecil were married 10 April 1918 at the Parish Church, Ightham. Florance was a spinster and Cecil a widower. Cecil was born in New Zealand. Also, he was admitted to hospital in Sevenoakes in December 1916. He returned to Australia in 1919 with his wife.

You can see his WWI record at the Australian National Archives.

Doug

What fabulous pictures from an amazing find! Thanks for sharing - I'll look forward to seeing some more.

Allie

Superb quality.

Bernard

Hi
the only Blinkhouse I can find with Aussie connection


Sands Directories: Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, 1861-1933
about Percy Blinkhouse
Name/Business Name: Percy Blinkhouse
Year: 1926
Page No: 968


Sands Directories: Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, 1861-1933
about Percy Blinkhouse
Name/Business Name: Percy Blinkhouse
Year: 1927
Page No: 1000

Both addresses are the same 19 Smith street.

Mel

Jonathon,
I've posted a request on the navy section for a Navy List look up. This may give us a christian name for your naval flyer WINDSOR. (It may also give us several.)

Al.

Post here and member manicafan may pick it up (or send him a PM).

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...c=32448&hl=

Thanks for that and it's been done.

Al.

Any idea what the bars are, alongside the capbadge?
And I`m surprised to see the RNAS man wearing both RAF/RFC & RN wings!

Mmm. I'm wondering if this was some sort of novelty photo to mark the transition from RNAS to RAF. What are your thoughts?

Al.

Hi Brett, no Evans or Ayres I'm afraid.
Hi Ralph, Remount for sure, thanks.
Hi Al, RNAS and RAF wings, does that mean this plate can be dated to 1918 for sure?
Doug and Mel, thanks for your hard work. If it turns out to be Blinkhorne that would be amazing! Ightham is not far from Sevenoaks. All the names were hand written on the negatives and therefore open to interpretation. I''ll scan just the name on Monday and post it up so you can see what you think it says.

OK, here is a list of the identified regiments or corps so far. The number is the amount of plates for that regiment/corps, starting with the most.

91 unidentified/no insignia
45 Royal Army Service Corps
44 Royal Field Artillery
38 Queen's Own Royal West Kents
33 Middlesex Regiment
20 Royal Army medical Corps
18 Queen's Own Dorsetshire Yeomanry
12 The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)
12 Royal Navy
9 King's OwnLancaster Regiment
9 Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs)
8 Volunteer Aid Detachment
8 Essex Yeomanry
7 Royal Engineers
7 Royal Flying Corps
6 Royal Fusiliers
6 Devonshire Regiment
6 General Service Corps
5 Cyclist Corps
5 East Surrey Regiment
5 Wiltshire Regiment
4 The King's Liverpool Regiment
4 Highland Light Infantry
4 Royal Naval Air Service
4 unidentified Australian
3 Prince of Wales Own West Yorkshire Regiment
3 Royal Army Chaplin Service
3 Rifle Brigade
3 Hertfordshire Yeomanry
3 Royal Highlanders of Canada
3 unidentified Canadian
3 Suffolk Regiment
3 South Lancashire Regiment
2 Royal Air Force
2 Royal Norfolk Regiment
2 City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders)
2 Derbyshire Regiment (Sherwood Foresters)
2 Guards?
2 Dorsetshire Regiment
2 New Zealand Rifle Brigade (The Dinks)
2 Machine Gun Corps
2 West Surrey Regiment
2 Royal Engineers Signal Service
2 Unknown French Alpine Regiment?
2 possibly Ox & Bucks Light Infantry
2 London Scottish

then one each of the following:

Essex Regiment
Royal Warwickshire Regiment
King's Royal Rifle Corps York and Lancaster Regiment
Sussex Yeomanry
12th Batt. London Regiment (The Rangers)
Leicestershire Regiment
New Zealand 12th (Nelson) Regiment
The Welsh Regiment
5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales)
Royal Welsh Fusiliers
Army Remount Service
Army Vetinary Corps
4th Hussars
Cheshire Regiment
unknown New Zealand
King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
East Lancashire

ARABIS has come up trumphs with this
" The November 1917 Navy List gives a Probationary Flight Officer Walter A. Windsor R.N.A.S., [seniority 3/6/17] under instruction at Cranwell.
He is listed as a Lieutenant R.A.F., Miscellaneous in the December 1918 Navy List.

There is also a Lt. G. H. Windsor R.A.F., serving in the seaplane carrier Campania in the Dec. 1918 Navy List. Can't find him in any previous Navy Lists though.

David. "

I've also found a MIC for a Walter Astley Windsor. Quite possibly the same.

Al.

Click to view attachment

Are we sure he is RNAS? He may have a badge on his right cuff but weren`t naval wings worn on left cuff?

I missed off the list..

5 Kent Cyclist battalion
3 Kent Yeomanry?

and thanks to Al,
1 CEF Dental Corps Overseas.

Now for some names starting with the
Middlesex Regiment:

Capt. Robertson 1495, 1499, 1502
Officer (rank not visible) Weiginton 1503
Officer Adamson 1488, 1489
2nd.Lt. Marshall 1259
group photo (possibly signal platoon) named to Marshall 1274, 1275
group photo including a car 3/7th Wooldridge 1474
family group Jopaliam (with slip on titles) 1444, 1445
C.F. Smith 1031
Friendentag 1053, 1054
Fusch 1055
Fray 1056
Field 1079
Ginney 1128
Neill 1134
Borgest 1182
Winter 1186
Maymark 1193
Smart 1194
Bouckanfur? 1342
Field 1376
Walters 1379
Wardorf 1423
Blaus 1446

East Kent (The Buffs)
2ndLt. Weldon 122, 1313
officer Ackland 1493
Medic/Bandsman? Franks 1258
C. Smith 2/5th Batt. 1258, 1464
Slate 5th Batt. 1466
C.W. Smith 1286

Queen's Own Royal West Kents
Lt.Col. Whatney 1494, 1500
Capt. Waydelin 1455
2nd.Lt. Waite 1116, 1153
2nd.Lt Thompson 1119, 1120, 1124
2nd.Lt. Westacott 1232, 1233
2nd.Lt. Rainer 1510
officer Kennedy 1443
Sgt. Whyntie 1405
Sgt. Wilson 1244
Cpl. Ryealey 1406
Cpl. Martin 1265
L.Cpl. Whyntie 1167
L.Cpl. H.A. Smith 1297
Signaller H. Martin (Military Medal) copy photograph 1266
Bugler Woolven 1207
Yorkeston 1169
Turner 1174
Wheeler 1208
Malcolm 1263
A.B. Wilden 1314
C. Wills 1315
Tingley 1344

Kent Cyclist Battalion
2nd.Lt. then Capt. Thompson 1104, 1122, 1123, 1124
Walker 1211

Kent Yeomanry
Urben? 1159
Yeoman? 1170
Talbot (mb platoon?) 1329

Once again I'll stress that the numbers next to the names are cataloguing numbers and not part of a service number, etc, so if a name has two numbers next to it that means we have two different photographs of that person.

This one is probably really easy for the experts, but I struggled with it. Guards, Fusiliers? 1140 name is Mathews.

Another one that's thrown me. Ox & Bucks Light Infantry (Bucks Batt)? 1424 the name is Blackmore.

I'd say 1140 is both Royal Fusiliers (left) and Grenadier Guards (right)

The Aussie in post 8 (Mansfield) is, I would say, either 4th, 8th or 12th Battalions. They all had a white-over-colour patch; if pushed, I'd suggest 8th, as red seems to come out palest in a black and white print. The 4th Bn was white over green, and the 12th, over blue.